


And They Called Us Opportunity

by ninjalanternshark



Category: Space Vehicles, Star Trek
Genre: I'm sad about Opportunity so I wrote this, Other, T'hy'la, the captain is vulcan space married to her enby engineer and it's great, you don't need to know any star trek to read this i hardly know anything and i wrote it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 00:29:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17777120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninjalanternshark/pseuds/ninjalanternshark
Summary: Captain T'Mek was not expecting humans to have sent unmanned vessels to their neighboring planet, but it seems that they have. How illogical.





	And They Called Us Opportunity

**Author's Note:**

> *blows a kiss to space*  
> ya did good, kid <3

 

When the Vulcan ship, heavily cloaked, arrives in the Terran system, T’Mek is notified by her First Officer.

It has been a long journey, though no longer than she had calculated when plotting their course.

As is logical, she orders a scan of the system as soon as they are in range. She carefully reads the scan results. The primitive inhabitants - Terrans - are still relatively confined to their home planet. The _Maymora_ ’s sensors reveal less than half of a dozen beings in their orbital space station.

They are not yet worthy of the Federation. Indeed, it would be a breach of the Prime Directive to come into contact with them.

However, there is some activity that was not listed in the records from the previous trip, over four decades prior. That would bear investigating.

“Proceed to planet T-4,” T’Mek orders. “Heading 110, mark 4. Initiate planetary scans.”

“There appear to be several machines present on the surface of the planet,” reports Lieutenant Veret. “Only two are operational.”

“Find the one that was last operational, but is no longer so. Beam it into the shuttle hangar,” T’Mek directs. Veret acknowledges the order and picks up their comm.

Once the machine is retrieved, T’Mek directs the _Maymora_ on a heading to their next destination, the Xacanthian system, at a speed of warp four.

When she is satisfied that the bridge is under control, she takes the turbolift to the hangar deck.

Her highest-ranking engineer, Nuvaith, is already hard at work. Xe is currently cleaning off the solar panels on the machine, and one of xyr lieutenants is bringing over a high-lumen light.

“It is good that you are already here,” T’Mek says. “The information we recover from the craft may prove instrumental to future contact with the Terrans.”

“I agree,” Nuvaith says, glancing up at her. Xyr hair had been hastily tied back instead of braided to regulation.

“Were you resting when we arrived in the system?”

“I was.”

“May I?”

Nuvaith nods. T’Mek steps forward and gently pulls the tie from xyr hair. She runs her hands through it and starts a neat braid.

In addition to being T’Mek’s chief engineer, Nuvaith is also her t’hy’la and bondmate.

T’Mek is quick with her hands, and finishing the braid does not take long. She wraps the tie securely around the end and steps back.

Nuvaith continues with her work, as is logical. T’Mek helps when she is asked.

It takes xem a few hours, but Nuvaith finally declares the machine ready to boot. Xe connects it to a PADD and touches a few keys.

The first noise the machine makes is a faint whir. It rapidly cycles through several tones as its computers boot up.

The image recorder on top of its body spins as it takes in its surroundings. It moves an inch forward, then backward.

“I have given it a simple artificial intelligence,” Nuvaith says. “Enough that it can tell us the necessary data without being specifically asked.”

“Is it ready?” T’Mek asks.

“Yes. It will answer from the PADD.”

“What are you?” T’Mek asks, enunciating clearly.

The image recorder points directly at her.

“I am MER-B,” the machine says. “A rover sent by the National Aeronautic and Space Administration of the United States of America.”

“What is your purpose?”

MER-B whirs. “To collect data on Mars geological sites and processes, particularly as related to past liquid water activity.”

“Could you give us an example?”

It whirs loudly. “No data available. I have operated in RAM only mode since Sol 4027.”

“What do you know about your history?”

More whirring. “I was produced alongside MER-A. MER-A is also known as Spirit. I am also known as Opportunity.”

“Opportunity,” echoes Nuvaith. “And Spirit. Who gave you those names?”

“The ones who created us. Terrans. List of Mars spacecraft names: Spirit, Opportunity, Insight, Phoenix, Pathfinder, Sojourner. List of other spacecraft names: Endeavor, Voyager, New Horizons-”

“Stop,” T’Mek says. She meets Nuvaith’s gaze. “The Terrans are advancing. Perhaps they will become a mature, peaceful civilization before they destroy themselves.”

“There may be hope for them,” Nuvaith agrees. Xe turns back to Opportunity. “Opportunity, we are space travellers from the planet Vulcan. We represent the Federation of United Planets. Is the artificial intelligence I have installed compatible with your systems?”

“Compatible with all systems,” Opportunity agrees. “Query.”

“Go ahead,” Nuvaith says.

“Did I complete my mission?”

T’Mek frowns, scrolling through her PADD. “Your mission was scheduled to last 90 sols. How many were you active?”

“I was active for 5,111 sols.”

“You completed your mission,” Nuvaith says. “Many times over. Well done, my friend.”

Nuvaith has always been emotional. It is quite illogical, but T’Mek finds herself fond of xyr displays regardless.

In fact, T’Mek believes she may be also growing fond of Opportunity. It is such a primitive design, but...it was honorable, and it has completed its mission well.

“Query,” Opportunity says again.

“Continue,” T’Mek says.

“To what point are we travelling?”

T’Mek would smile at that if such a reaction weren’t so illogical. “We are travelling to another system.” She relays their current coordinates.

“That is…” The little rover pauses, working out some math in its computer brain. “Further than any Terran vessel has ever reached.”

“You are the first,” Nuvaith agrees. “The first to have contact the Vulcans and the first to engage in an inter-system mission. You will go where none of your kind have ever gone before.”

Opportunity hums a few tones. “May I continue to collect data?”

“Certainly,” T’Mek says. “I will assign an engineer to work on repairing your data banks so that it will not be erased. For now, perform a full systems analysis on yourself and report any malfunctions. We will arrive in the Xacanthian system soon.”

She returns to her bridge.

The _Maymora_ flies on.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm new to Star Trek (currently in early s3 of TOS) so I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I wanted to play in the sandbox anyway.
> 
> (If you're here from To Stand in Sunlight then I am VERY SORRY! I promise I'm trying to work on the next chapter!)


End file.
